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Beardsley's Trading Post
Beardsley's Trading Post is a remote outpost in North Carolina, used by both Native Americans and backcountry settlers. History Beardsley's Trading Post was established by Aaron Beardsley sometime before 1760. Around 1760, Beardsley took on Josiah and Keziah - then toddlers - as indentured servants. He reportedly mistreated and starved both boys, leading them to run away a decade later. Beardsley also married a succession of women, treating each of them cruelly. According to Fanny Beardsley, he murdered his first four wives and buried their bodies on or near the property. In 1768, Mr. Beardsley bought a young Fanny Beardsley from her father and brought her to live with him as his fifth wife. In the fall of 1770, Fanny is living at Beardsley's Trading Post with the abusive Mr. Beardsley when the latter has a stroke. In revenge for his previous actions toward her and his other wives, Fanny leaves him to languish in the loft. In late 1770, Jamie and Claire Fraser arrive at Beardsley's Trading Post to find a dying Mr. Beardsley and a resentful Fanny Beardsley. Jamie kills Mr. Beardsley and they leave the trading post with Fanny. However, Fanny runs off in the middle of the night, leaving Jamie and Claire with her newborn daughter - the legal heir to Beardsley's Trading Post. After some reservations, Jamie gives the newborn to the Brown family of Brownsville, thereby giving them control of Beardsley's Trading Post. The trading post later is later used to store and distribute the spoils of the robberies committed by Arvin Hodgepile and his men. By 1779, the trading post has expanded considerably, and attracts settlers and Native Americans from all over the North Carolina backcountry. In addition to the main building, it contains a number of outbuildings and a small de-facto flea market. The Property Beardsley's Trading Post sits in a remote part of North Carolina, near the Treaty Line. It contains several fields, a barn, and a small number of farm animals. There is an rowan tree at the front of the house, and Fanny Beardsley believes that Mary Ann Beardsley is buried under it. Mr. Beardsley himself is buried under a mountain ash tree in the dooryard. In later years, the new managers build additional outbuildings to store their growing stock of valuable inventory. As of 1779, it is managed by Herman Stoelers, though the owner is still the young Alicia Beardsley. The House The Beardsley house itself is a shabby two-room farmhouse with a sagging porch, cracked glass windows, and a shingled roof. The front room of the house is used for the storage of traded goods, from dried food to gunpowder. The back room of the house is used as a living space, and contains a hearth, table, and the house's only remaining glass window. There's also a loft above the back room. By the time the Jamie and Claire arrive in 1770, the house has fallen into considerable disrepair. However, it has been repaired and expanded by 1779. Trivia References Category:Fictional Locations Category:Locations in North America